ActionSA issues eThekwini Municipality letter of demand over water quality

ActionSA KwaZulu-Natal has issued a letter of demand to the eThekwini Metro Municipality over the dire conditions in the province.

The party’s provincial chairperson, Zwakele Mncwango, said the letter written to the municipality stipulated that it wanted the flow of sewerage into the river systems to be stopped.

Health hazard

The flow has resulted in the closure of beaches, health concerns for residents and the long-term damage to sensitive ecosystems.

“The situation has been allowed to continue for over 6 months and it must be stopped and of great concern is the apparent lack of a coherent plan and timeline to resolve the problem.”

“The infrastructure renewal and maintenance of our sewer system is a fundamental function of a metro municipality, and the historic failure of this function is directly to blame for the malfunction of sewerage pump stations in various locations in the city since the floods in April,” said Mncwango.

Festive season might be affected

He added that it was imperative that this issue be sorted as the festive season was approaching in the near future which will require the hospitality industry to operate in full force.

“Our city faces a festive season where its hospitality industry and broader economy will be severely damaged by our beaches remaining closed over the festive season – traditionally a vital source of job-sustaining economic activity for eThekwini.”

“This, alongside the inability of eThekwini residents to use their natural environment for economic, recreational, social and religious purposes necessitates our intervention.”

Legal action

Mncwango added that ActionSA’s legal approach is to provide eThekwini Metro two weeks to address the issue sufficiently that the water quality at all eThekwini beaches falls to acceptable levels.

If this demand is not met, the party said its legal team will approach the courts for a mandamus to compel the municipality to act.

“It is a tragedy that it is necessary for governments to be taken to court to compel them to attend to the fundamentals of service delivery. It is a demonstration of the role required from ActionSA to win support away from the ANC to ensure that new governing coalitions can take office and deliver the services that are needed by the residents of eThekwini and KwaZulu-Natal.”

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